Alone on Valentine's Day
by TheWickedKitty
Summary: It's February 14th, and Riley is missing a certain, special Dead Poet. NeilxOC. Rated T for swearing and maybe sexual references.


**I haven't written for DPS in a while, so I figure I should so it doesn't look like I'm abandoning it. I kind of stole this idea from so, I'm sorry. Go read her story "Happy Valentine's Day", it's good! I hope it's not too similar. And I realize it isn't Valentine's Day, but I decided to do something depressing with my OC, who lives in California, by the way, so I'm making it that Neil's home outside of Welton was in California. And I had to make up a high school name, so I just went with something that's pretty common. This is set in modern times.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Dead Poet's Society. But, I may or may not have Neil tied up under my bed for safekeeping. And this also has nothing to do with the Remus Lupins song "Alone on Valentine's Day", it's just where I got the title from. So I don't own that song or the band either.**

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Riley huffed as she turned the key into the lock on her front door. With it being cold and snowy outside, she wanted to get inside as soon as possible so her ears and nose didn't freeze off from the mile walk home from school.

As she stepped inside, the house was empty, as usual. She kicked off her snow-covered boots and put them on the mat by the door to dry before going into the house. Her mom was very picky about her walking around the house with wet shoes on. Then, she hung up her long, black jacket on the coat rack and plopped her backpack on one of the kitchen chairs.

She was taking off her matching hat, scarf, and gloves to hang them up when she noticed the card sticking out of her jacket pocket. The one she had carelessly stuffed in her pocket without even making a tear in the envelope's seal when it was given to her as she was leaving the school for the weekend.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. The day of love and romance.

"_Happy Valentine's Day. Love, the staff" _said the card. What a great way to show you love your students.

Everyone got one of these on major holidays and birthdays from the staff at Riley's high school. She guessed it was out of pity that they did this so people who didn't get anything got at least a card.

She was one of those people.

She was what you'd call a lone wolf at Marshall High School. The only friend she had didn't go to Marshall. She was ignored and neglected there.

This flimsy card from the staff was the only thing she got today. No flowers, no chocolates, no other cards.

Because no one loved her enough to drop her a "Happy Valentine's Day" or even a "hello" during the school day.

She picked up her backpack and nearly dragged it up the stairs to her room and shut the door. She settled onto her black comforter after flinging her backpack onto it, with the mouth facing her. Time to do homework.

German 5. AP Chemistry. AP Psychology.

Maybe not. She loved these classes, but she was too distracted to concentrate on hard subjects.

She zipped back up her backpack and lay down on her bed, staring up at the poster of Patrick Swayze on her ceiling. Oh, how she loved that boy…

Or, well, lusted after him…in her dreams.

That was the closest she has ever gotten to a boy. Other than Neil.

Oh, yes. Neil Perry. The classic story of stranger turned best friend.

Neil had lived two houses down from Riley for her whole life, although they didn't talk much, as per usual. Until one day, little nine-year-old Neil came by her house on his paper route.

Usually her parents got the paper, but that day, she was outside, raking leaves, when something odd fell on her head. Surprised, she turned around to see the paper lying on the ground beside her pile of leaves and a handsome little boy running toward her, screaming apologies at her. From that point on, they gradually got to know each other and just overnight, it seemed, they became very close friends.

Now, both of them were 17 and attending high school. While she was at Marshall, the local high school, her best friend was at Welton Academy, 3,000 miles from where she was now.

When she heard that Neil's father was making him go there, she begged her parents if she could attend there too. But, it being an all-boys school, they sorrowfully turned her down. She said a tearful goodbye to Neil as he was rushed into his father's car and down the street until she couldn't see him anymore.

This is how it has been since Neil left. Riley gets up, goes to school, comes home from school, does her homework, replies to a long letter she and Neil had going back and forth, then goes to bed. Not very exciting or comforting in the least.

Neil tried to come home every weekend, but that never worked out. He said that this old, fat dude who runs Welton, Nolan Ryan or something like that, was very strict and wouldn't let them go home unless there was an emergency that needed attending to.

Of course, there were times when Neil had faked an emergency at home in order to be with Riley for two days, but after his father found out his scam, he forbid him to go home unless he knew about it and there really was an emergency.

It was after Neil told her this that she had lost all hope of ever seeing him again, unless it was on a federal holiday. But, of course, his bastard of a father always kept him at home on Christmas and Thanksgiving, making the excuse that these times were for spending time with family, not partying with your friends.

She then realized that there were tears running down her cheeks that she didn't notice had fallen. She took a deep, shaky breath before running her finger along her cheek to clear the wetness. With a great heave, she got up from her bed and went downstairs to the living room to check the mail slot, with a sliver of hope…

Nothing but bills, as normal. She picked them up and slapped them on the kitchen table for her parents to read when they got home. Not having the energy to climb the stairs again, she went back into the living room and slumped down on the couch.

Her cat, Pebbles, came up to her with sympathy in his eyes. She looked down at him and smiled a little, half smile while she patted him on the head.

"I'm okay, really" she told him. She tended to do this, seeing as she had no friends.

In spite of what she just told him, he put his little paws up on the couch and hoisted himself onto her lap, where he laid down, curled into a ball, and purred. She stroked his back. It was comforting.

It was there that she must've fallen asleep because, when she opened her eyes, Pebbles was in his little bed in the corner of the living room, breathing deeply, she had a blanket over her, and it was dark outside.

After she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she looked at the cable box underneath the TV in the living room. A bright 2:04 AM was shone on it.

It was officially Valentine's Day, and what was she doing? Spending it alone with her cat. What a great life.

With a sigh, she lifted her body out of the comfort of the couch to go up the stairs to her own bedroom. Before she went in, though, something on the door caught her eye.

"_Neil called at about 4 o'clock while you were asleep and he said to tell you that he loves you and he'll see what he can do about coming home for the weekend. Love, Mom." _

Riley ripped the note off her door and went inside, closing the door behind her.

"_Neil called? And I missed it? Stupid two-hour-long AP classes…" _she thought as she slumped back onto her bed. _"I wish I could tell him that I love him too, but he's probably asleep right now, and that'd be rude to wake him."_

Neil hardly ever called because electronics were banned from Welton by that Nolan creep, who she was slowly starting to hate more and more. That's also why she had to wait for snail-mail instead of just using emails, IM's, phone calls, or text messages. It must've been something other than what her mom's note said. Something that couldn't wait.

She folded the letter neatly and set it on her bedside table. After getting her pajamas on and brushing her teeth, she snuggled into her warm sheets. She knew dreams of a certain, handsome, young actor would be coming to her subconscious mind tonight.

Riley started to awaken in her mind, but didn't want to open her eyes just yet. Then, remembering it was Saturday, she rolled over and let sleep overtake her again. About five minutes later, she felt a gentle shaking on her shoulder and a familiar voice. Too familiar…

"Neil?" she said sleepily as she turned around to face the person in her room. The handsome face and wide smile was all she needed.

Before he could answer, she had her arms around him and was weeping pathetically into his shoulder. She could feel his arms wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him. She could also hear his mouth whispering sweet nothings and cooing into her ear.

She pulled away reluctantly, eyes red and blotchy. "I honestly thought I would never see you again" she said hoarsely, as if she hadn't talked in weeks. Neil gently stroked a stray piece of hair that was falling over Riley's eye and put it behind her ear.

"I thought I would never be able to come back here again until summer. But, I pulled a few strings. Charlie and Todd are covering for me, I have to be back early Sunday morning so people won't get suspicious. And your parents have agreed to let me hide out here for today so my father won't see me. Not really much fun, but I get to spend a whole day alone with you, and that's really all I need."

Riley found herself grinning like an idiot through her tears. She saw Neil smiling as well as he got up to situate himself on her bed, with her in his arms. She sat in between his legs with her head laid back on his chest, both hands clasped with his.

"I really missed you" Riley said in a shaky voice, breaking the comfortable silence they had entered. She felt a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"I missed you too" Neil said, his voice dripping with care and love. "I knew just letters weren't cutting it, for either of us. And I certainly didn't want you to be alone on Valentine's Day, of all days." Riley chuckled a little at this. Neil could always make her laugh.

"Well, I'm really glad you came. Maybe now, this'll give us a chance to discuss a few things."

Neil's eyebrow rose. "Discuss what things?"

"Discuss…us" Riley said, simply. "Our feelings for each other, where we are right now, where we're going. Etcetera." She felt Neil heave a great sigh. "I know you like me as more than a friend. Or, at least, I'm hoping you do."

Neil was confused. "Wait, you hope that I like you as more than a friend? Is that a hint?"

"A big hint" was all Riley could reply. "I realized that I liked you like that after you left for Welton and I experienced Neil-withdrawal." Neil's chest rose up and down with laughter. "I guess it's like the old cliché. You never know how much something means to you until it's gone."

Neil breathed deeply. "I was thinking the same thing during the year. I know we're already best friends, but maybe we should try this out. Who knows, it could turn into something good."

As her reply, Riley hoisted herself up from Neil's comfortable embrace and turned around.

The kiss was soft and sweet, but enough to get Neil's attention. She pulled away, smiling shyly. "Does that answer your question?"

Neil blinked a few times, then his faced eased into a smile. "Yes" he said before he leaned in and kissed her, more passionately than she had kissed him. She tightened her arms around him and deepened the kiss.

"_I know being alone on Valentine's Day sucks" _she thought. "_And that's exactly why I'm not."_

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**I'm sorry, I'm really bad at endings. Anyway, there's my cheesy love story for the day! Oh, and I don't own Nolan Ryan…I have no idea why I put that in there, but I guess it fits. Anyway, please review!**


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